


The Cold Between

by thawrecka



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-05
Updated: 2004-04-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 04:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thawrecka/pseuds/thawrecka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buffy and Giles, after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cold Between

**Author's Note:**

> Buffy/Giles, for Greensilver's request in the Buffy ficathon. Horribly late, because I had a great deal of difficulty writing this pairing.

It was just a joke. Buffy is sure it was supposed to be a joke.

The girl, some new slayer -- Buffy couldn't even remember her name -- had looked annoyed and embarrassed as Dawn laughed, "April Fools!" The door shook against the frame. Nobody had paid much attention.

Then it, the lumbering, dripping monster, came, unexpected and terrible. It was roaring, slimy and furious and it crept toward the girl inexorably. She seemed to be frozen in her stupid fear. The girl did fight and she was strong, but unsteady and untrained. It cornered her and attacked mercilessly.

Buffy tried to open the lock or beat down the door or something. She tried and tried but she it was no use. That thing tore the girl to shreds, with a symphony of shrieks and terrible screams accompanying its each horrific movement.

Buffy finally ripped open the door, but it was too late. She fought off the slime monster, hacking and slashing at the creature with all her might. It tried to escape but Buffy was persistent and strong. She killed it efficiently.

Giles ran out to help the girl but there was nothing he could do as the girl gasped her last breath, blood spurting out and bubbling in her wounds.

Buffy stumbled to Giles' side -- she covered in slime and he splattered with blood. The girl was a mess of both and her eyes were wide and still with death.

Dawn ran to her room and locked herself inside.

Giles looked up into Buffy's searching eyes. "I'm sorry, Buffy, there's nothing we can do."

Buffy nodded and walked inside.

 

Buffy was in charge of calling the relevant people and she did so, calmly and with great haste. They waited until the body was removed from the premises and in capable hands before they even thought of cleaning up. Their clothes were terribly stained and probably not salvageable but Buffy put them in a separate hamper and consigned them to someone else's cleaning skills.

Buffy sighed and rubbed her hair out of her eyes saying, "Dawn spent ages in the shower this morning so there's probably not much warm water left. Okay if we share?"

Giles looked oddly inscrutable for a moment before his features settled in to looking resigned.

"All right," he said, nodding, and he took off his glasses and put them on the counter.

Buffy looked in the mirror and noticed a line of slime across her forehead.

Giles turned around and looked away as Buffy took off her underwear, not attending to his own until she began to run the water and adjust the temperature. The water took a while to get to the right temperature, but when it was warm enough Buffy stepped inside the shower. Giles soon followed.

Their hands fumbled and slipped against each other as they both reached for the soap. Giles muttered an apology and drew back, allowing Buffy to take the soap first. She lathered it up in her hands and washed her body quickly, sensibly and without any fuss.

She passed the Giles the soap and leaned over to pick up the shampoo. She bumped against Giles again as she stood up straight and he pushed himself against the tile. He seemed to be scrubbing his body as if he were punishing it, and his eyes were very much averted from her form.

Buffy felt odd and misshapen.

"Are you ashamed of me?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

Giles turned his head and opened his eyes and said, "No, no. There's nothing wrong with you. I'm just tired."

"Giles, what's wrong?" Buffy asked, duly concerned at his awkward behaviour.

If he kept scrubbing so slowly he wasn't going to be finished by the time the water got cold, so Buffy put her hand over his hand and moved it up and around, pushing the soap all over his skin.

Buffy knows Giles used to look at her all the time, his eyes on her every time she entered the room, his attention riveted to her every movement. She brought up her other hand and held his head in place so he could not look away from her eyes.

The soap slipped softly over his skin.

"Buffy, I..." he rasped, and his shuddering gasp sounded like transgression.

The drawing in of his breath was loud, like a sob.

"What did I do?" Buffy persisted.

The soap crushed out of shape between their fingers, slipping out of their grasp and falling to the floor with a thud and a splash. Buffy's hand remained clasped over Giles', pressed against his hip.

She looked still into his eyes and something about him looked broken.

He pressed his hand up and their fingers slipped along each other, intertwined.

"Or, what can I do?" she asked.

Giles put his other hand up to her shoulder blade and pulled her close to him. Their bodies were pressed close together under the steady fall of the water, and it felt natural, though she was sharp were he was soft. Her hand on his jaw slipped to his neck, curving around the wet skin. Their joined hands fell close between them, touching heat. Then, they were kissing, veraciously, he crushed against the tiles and her neck bent at an uncomfortable angle. They kept kissing and moving and merging together, as Dawn cried in her room.

The water grew cold around them.

 

Later, they sat on the couch in clean warm clothes, drinking tea. She leant against Giles' shoulder and he caressed her hair, looking at her carefully from time to time.

Dawn came into the room, cautious and silent, and sat on the floor.

Dawn smiled desperately through reddened eyes. Giles held Buffy with wrinkled hands. They were silent.

Their clothes never got clean. The blood soaked into the pavement.


End file.
